Two buses pull up in front of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park and out streams dozens of camera-toting Europeans. They have reached "The Promised Land" on their pilgrimage to see Bruce Springsteen's Jersey Shore.

Just as many Beatles fans travel to Liverpool or London, or Elvis Presley fanatics visit Memphis, Springsteen fans from around the world flock to Freehold, Asbury Park and other Monmouth County towns to see famous Springsteen sites.

Springsteen Rocked Here...

Bruce Springsteen through the years

The Jersey Shore is an important stop, whether fans visit places he mentions in his songs, check out the homes he grew up in or take photos by signs and locations important to the band's history.

Here are the must see sites if you're planning to take your own Bruce tour this summer.

Freehold
Springsteen lived in three houses in
Freehold. Two are still standing.

1. 87 Randolph St. -- Where Springsteen lived until he was 6 years old. The house was torn down to make room for a parking lot for the St. Rose of Lima church.

2. 39 1/2 Institute St. -- Springsteen's parents, Doug and Adele, moved him and his sister, Ginny, here around 1955. The Springsteens lived on the left side of the duplex for about eight years. It was here that Springsteen saw Presley on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1956. In 1984, Springsteen did a photo shoot here that included a shot of him leaning next to a tree. It appeared in the "Born in the U.S.A." tour book and lyrics sheet inside the album. Residents still see fans posing for photos next to the tree.

3. 68 South St. -- The family moved here when Springsteen entered high school in 1963 and lived here until moving to California in 1969 (Springsteen stayed in New Jersey). The Springsteens lived on the left side of this duplex, too. According to local legend, a fan bought the screen door from the homeowner in the early '80s, thinking it was the screen door made famous in "Thunder Road."

4. St. Rose of Lima School, 51 Lincoln Place -- Springsteen attended kindergarten to eighth grade here, from 1954 to 1963. He came back to the school to play a benefit acoustic show in the gymnasium on Nov. 8, 1996. Only Freehold residents were allowed to purchase tickets.

5. Freehold High School, 2 Robertsville Road -- Springsteen graduated from this school in 1967, and is a member of its Hall of Fame. His mother, Adele, accepted his award at a ceremony on April 6, 2006, and read a speech written by her son. One of the comments: "My advice to teachers today is to keep your eyes on the ones who don't fit in. Those are the ones that can think out of the box. You'll never know where they'll be going."

6. Vinyard Park, corner of Center and Jackson streets -- The site of Tex and Marion Vinyard's home, where Bruce's first band, the Castiles, practiced. Tex was manager of the band and neighborhood children hung out here to listen to the music. Vinyard Park was dedicated on May 18, 2002, in a ceremony Springsteen attended.

7. Federici's Pizza, 14 East Main St. -- A longtime favorite restaurant of Springsteen's. The after-show party was held here following his 1996 appearance at St. Rose of Lima. Springsteen also joined a group of fans for pizza here on July 31, 2004, after they had been working on a home in town for Habitat for Humanity.

8. A brick with Springsteen's name in front of the Columbia Triumphant statue on East Main Street. Springsteen was among the patrons who donated to help restore the statue. Local officials joked they put "extra cement" around Springsteen's brick to thwart souvenir hunters.

Asbury Park
Springsteen's "adopted hometown" is the centerpiece of any Bruce pilgrimage.

9. Upstage Club, 702 Cookman Ave. -- Where Springsteen and many others, including Southside Johnny and Steve Van Zandt, started out in Asbury Park. The club is long gone, but the building still stands. Originally a coffeehouse, the club was located on the second and third floors, above a Thom McAn shoe store, from the summer of 1968 through 1971. This is where Springsteen met and played with many of his future bandmates, including Van Zandt, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici, David Sancious and Vini "Maddog" Lopez. The Upstage closed in October 1971 with shows by Springsteen's most popular pre-E Street Band group, Steel Mill, seen here after their final show at the club, Springsteen is second from left.

10. The Stone Pony, 913 Ocean Ave. -- One of the most famous nightclubs in the world. Springsteen has played this stage nearly 90 times, more than any other venue. Most were late-night guest appearances with other artists. Except for private charity shows for his children's schools over the past eight years, none of the appearances has ever been billed as his gig. His most recent surprise appearance was May 17, 2008, when he joined Mike Ness for four songs. The Pony is so closely associated with Springsteen that many people mistakenly believe he got his start at the club. In fact, Springsteen already had two albums out when the Pony opened its doors in 1974.

11. Convention Hall, Ocean and Fifth avenues -- Over the past 10 years, Springsteen has rehearsed here for his Reunion, "Rising," Vote for Change, Seeger Sessions, "Magic" and "Working on a Dream" tours. He also began every one of those tours, except Vote for Change, with rehearsal shows open to the public. The 3,500-seat hall was the site of Springsteen's Christmas shows in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Before 1999, Springsteen had never played the venue. On July 30, 2002, NBC's "Today" show televised Springsteen and the E Street Band performing live the morning "The Rising" was released. ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" televised a performance by Bruce and his Seeger Sessions Band here on April 25, 2006. The Rolling Stones, the Doors, the Who and Janis Joplin are among the legendary acts to have also played here. Bob Dylan played a show here last August.

12. Paramount Theatre, corner of Ocean and Fifth avenues -- Springsteen played his first billed shows in Asbury Park in more than 25 years here in November 1996, when he played three benefit shows at this 1,600- seat theater on his "Ghost of Tom Joad" tour. Bruce and the E Street Band rehearsed here in 1978 for the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" tour, in 2005 for his solo "Devils & Dust" tour, in 2006 for the Seeger Sessions tour and this past March for the "Working on a Dream" tour.

14. Madam Marie's fortune-telling booth, boardwalk at Fourth Avenue -- A fixture on the Asbury Park boardwalk for years. Madam Marie, the fortune-teller immortalized in Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," died in July 2008 at age 93. Marie, whose real name was Marie Castello, became fixed in the imagination of Springsteen fans around the world in 1973 with the line: "Did you hear, the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they
do." Springsteen posted this on his website following Castello's death: "I'd sit across from her on the metal guard rail bordering the beach, and watched as she led the day-trippers into the small back room where she would unlock a few of the mysteries of their future. She always told me mine looked pretty good -- she was right. The world has lost enough mystery as it is -- we need our fortune-tellers. We send our condolences out to her family who've carried on her tradition. Over here on E Street, we will miss her." The fortune-telling booth remains and is run by Castello's relatives.

15. Asbury Park boardwalk -- In 1972, Springsteen saw the "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." postcard being sold at a store on the boardwalk. He brought it to Columbia Records and told them that was what he wanted his first album to be titled. "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." was released on Jan.

5, 1973. Springsteen has done photo shoots and filmed videos on various parts of the boardwalk over the years. He was filmed walking the boardwalk for a "60 Minutes" feature with Ed Bradley of CBS in 1996, and NBC's Matt Lauer interviewed Bruce on the boardwalk in 2002 and 2005.

16. Casino, south end of the boardwalk at Ocean Avenue -- "And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers along the shore" is a line in Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." It's not a gambling casino, but it was two buildings that marked the southern end of Asbury Park's boardwalk. The carousel house still stands, but the arena part of the Casino, located on the beach, was torn down in 2007. Here is where Springsteen filmed the music videos for "Tunnel of Love" in 1987 and "Lonesome Day" in 2002. Mickey Rourke filmed scenes for "The Wrestler" here in 2008.

17. Fast Lane, 207 Fourth Ave. -- Known as the second-most famous bar in Asbury Park (after the Stone Pony). Springsteen jammed many a night here between 1979 and 1981 with Beaver Brown, Robert Gordon and other bands. The building is still there but the bar has not been in operation for the past few years. It was here that Springsteen saw the Ramones play on March 25, 1979, and Joey Ramone asked Bruce to write a song for his band. Springsteen wrote "Hungry Heart" but decided to keep it for himself on the advice of his manager, Jon Landau. U2 played a show here on Nov. 25, 1981.

18. The Circuit, Kingsley Street and Ocean Avenue -- "Night," on the "Born To Run" album, was about cars cruising the Circuit, which was the nickname of the drive around Kingsley Street and Ocean Avenue. "The circuit's lined and jammed with chromed invaders" is among the lyrics. Kingsley Street is mentioned in the lyrics of 1978's "Something in the Night": "I'm riding down Kingsley, figuring I'll get a drink." Soon after the song came out, Asbury Park had a hard time keeping the Kingsley Street signs up because many fans took them as souvenirs.

19. Wonder Bar, 1213 Ocean Ave. -- Norman Seldin's band, the Joyful Noyze, which included Clemons on saxophone, played here frequently in the early 1970s. One night Clemons walked from the Wonder Bar to the Student Prince on Kingsley Street to see Springsteen perform, and the rest is history. Springsteen filmed parts of his "One Step Up" video here in 1988, and did a photo shoot here for a New York Times story in 2005. He still stops by occasionally.

20. Cruisin Dance Club, 911 Kingsley St. -- This club, which has gone through several names over the years, was the Student Prince in the early 1970s, and Springsteen played here regularly with the Bruce Springsteen Band. It was here in 1972 that Springsteen played with Clemons for the first time.

21. Asbury Park Public Library, 500 First Ave. -- Houses an extensive collection devoted to Springsteen and his bands. The collection, dating from 1964 to the present, includes close to 11,000 holdings in multiple formats: books, song books, tour books, magazines, fanzines, internet articles, academic journals and papers, comic books, selected printed items and newspaper articles. This collection is intended to serve the research and informational needs of music fans, scholars, authors and others with a serious interest. It is open to the public for viewing through an appointment. Information on the collection may be found at friendsofthespringsteencollection.org.

Belmar
22. Corner of 10th Avenue and E Street -- This street corner is a favorite photo-op for Springsteen fans from around the world for an obvious reason: Bruce got the name for his band from the street. His first piano player, David Sancious, lived at 1105 E St. Springsteen's second album, "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle," was released in 1973 and includes the song "E Street Shuffle." Most likely, though, this is not the 10th Avenue from "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out."

Long Branch
23. 7 1/2 West End Court -- Springsteenhas said in interviews that he wrote "Born to Run," "Thunder Road" and "Backstreets" while living here. In a 2005 documentary DVD included with the 30th anniversary set of "Born to Run," Springsteen is filmed outside the house reminiscing about living here, which he did from 1974 to '75.

24. Monmouth Medical Center -- Bruce was born here on Sept. 23, 1949. It then was known as Monmouth Memorial Hospital album.